Letting Him In
by Mwac
Summary: Lily loses her parents the summer before seventh year in horrific way. James notices something is wrong with Lily, and makes it his mission to get her to let him in to her life.
1. Prologue

Lily had lived here her entire life, slept in this bed, in this room since her parents brought her home from the hospital. So how is it now, as she laid on her back looking up, did she just notice the water stain on her ceiling?

She hadn't realized how much she had let go unnoticed, like the family photo her mother had placed at the top of the stairs, or the jam packed drawer in the bathroom. Now, of course, it's too late to notice anything else, today was September first, and it was time to return to Hogwarts.

Lily let her eyes trail across the ceiling and down the side of the room to the door of the small second floor bedroom. Sighing, she sat up and let her legs hang on the side of the bed. Slowly she smoothed down the covers on her bed, and taking another deep breath, stood up. Without taking another look around the room, Lily grabbed her trunk and the carrier that contained her cat, Goose, and walked out of the room.

James was a very good looking young man, and sometimes unfortunately for those around him, he knew it. When it came to looks, charm and intelligence, James knew he had it made. He was able to get away with anything, including some well thought and very hilarious pranks his friends and he came up with.

What James forgot sometimes was knowing where to draw the line. Which James was quickly figuring out the morning of September the first, when he found himself cleaning up a mess of green sludge of the drawing room floor in his five story manor.

He had thought it might have been amusing to magic a bucket of said sludge to fall on Sirius as he walked through the door, but Sirius knowing James so well, had suspected something and asked Mr. Potter to go ahead of him. This also explains why Sirius is also cleaning the floor with James.

"I can't believe you actually set that up for me," Sirius groaned as he scrubbed the floor with a worn out sponge.

"I can't believe you let my father go ahead of you, if it just involved us, we wouldn't be cleaning this up the muggle way," James grumbled back.

"As long as we make it to the train on time, I haven't even finished packing yet, and I'm still covered in sludge," Sirius said throwing the sponge into the water.

"Of course we will, Mum would never let us miss going to Hogwarts on time, she can't wait for the peace and quiet that comes with us leaving." James said, "And how are you not done packing? You barely own anything and mum's been reminding us for the last week to do it."

"Prongs, when I said haven't finished, I really meant I haven't started yet. You should know that I always put it off." Sirius grinned.

James pushed himself to his feet, rolling his eyes as he went to his best friend.

"You know Padfoot, sometimes, it's okay not to rebel, and do small things like, packing your trunk in time for the Hogwarts express."

"James makes an excellent point, Sirius," Dorea Potter said while grinning, as she entered the room. "Now hurry upstairs and finish packing and get that slime off yourself quickly, so we can leave on time."

Sirius very smartly shut his mouth, though with great restraint that James could see, and leaped up and out of the room taking the stairs outside the door two at a time.

"Are you packed dear?" Dorea inquired.

"Yeah Mum, been packed for a couple days now. As much as I love it here, I'm anxious to get back." James grinned at his mother.

"I'm sure you are sweetie, especially considering that's where Miss Evans is as well, hmm?" Dorea winked at her son and left the room, leaving a blushing James behind her.

Lily Evans. Every man's dream to be honest and someone James thought about on a daily basis.

James could not wait to see her.

A/N: Well, I'm new here, well sort of. I've been reading HP fics for about a year now. I've only just got the courage to write my own. It's been awhile since I've written anything, about 5 years actually, so please be a little gentle on me! I am looking for a beta, someone who has a lot of experience with beta-ing, preferrably.  
Anyways! Reviews are received with love and potentially some sweets!


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Lily approached the train quickly, hoping to bypass anyone's notice. Unfortunately for her, she could not sneak by a gaze that searched the platform for her flaming red hair.

"Evans! Hey, Evans! Wait up!" She groaned inwardly recognizing the voice belonging to James Potter.

Pretending she hadn't heard anything, Lily looked determinedly towards the train's door, and started again to make her way. She got a further three feet when an arm reached out and grabbed her.

"Ow, Potter! Do not grab my arm that way!" Lily tugged her arm back towards her and turned again to the train.

"Aw, Evans, I'm sorry, I just wanted to say hello," Potter chuckled.

"Well, hello, now please let me go on the train so I can find a compartment." Lily replied quietly and without waiting for a response from James, she finally boarded the train.

Peeking her head into the occasional compartment, Lily finally found halfway down the train that was empty. Sighing in exhaustion, she placed her trunk on the upper shelves, and let Goose out of his carrier to wander around the small area.

Lily sat down on the padded bench seat and let her head fall back against the wall. She was hoping no one else would sit with her in the compartment, so she could be alone for the first time in two weeks but as her luck would have it, the four boys she was dreading seeing the most toppled into the compartment.

Remus Lupin fell in through the door first, and with a loud grunt he landed face first on the floor of the compartment. Following shortly after him on the floor was small Peter Pettigrew, and sauntering in like nothing had happened were James and Sirius.

"If you nitwits push me again, I will not help you this year by giving you the notes I take." Remus grumbled as he pushed himself up from the ground, helping Peter in the process.

"Well, if you had just listened when we said this compartment was empty, we wouldn't have had to force you to go through the door." James responded in an exasperated tone.

"Of course, it's not empty, is it?" Sirius grinned cheekily at me, being the only one to see me sitting there.

Three heads whipped around to see who Sirius had been talking to. Lily was met with the kind, caring eyes of Remus, watery eyes of Peter, and arrogant eyes of James.

Lily started to stand up and gather her belongings. "Hello, I was rather hoping for a quiet empty compartment, so I will leave you four to go and find one. Come, Goose." Lily called for her cat as she attempted to pull down her trunk.

"Sorry Lily, all the compartments have been taken, unless you would like to sit with some first years a few doors down." Remus responded apologetically.

"You're sure?" Lily asked skeptically.

"Pretty positive Pumpkin, we checked every compartment before stumbling in here." Sirius said as he plunked himself down on the bench beside where Lily had been previously sitting.

Double checking the sincerity in Remus' face, she let go of trying to pull down her trunk and sat back down with another great sigh.

Seeing that Lily had somewhat accepted them sharing the room with her, the other three followed Sirius' lead and sat, Peter beside Sirius, Remus across from them, and finally James across from Lily.

"So, Lily, how was your summer?" Remus asked her kindly.

There was a small pause in the room, where Lily had a fleeting but noticeable look of sheer panic at the question, before she answered.

"It was well, thank you Remus, and yours?" Lily resumed her look of passiveness.

"About the same I supposed." Remus exchanged a quick questioning look with Sirius as she responded.

"That's good to hear." With that tone of finality clear in her voice, Lily reached into her rucksack and pulled out a much worn book.

Sensing that she had the desired effect she was hoping for, Lily buried herself in her book, hoping that no one asked her anymore questions.

James had never seen this side of Lily before. He was used to the fiery passion she managed to convey in everything she said, or the outgoing personality she usually rewarded everyone around her with.

This Lily was different, this Lily was hiding something. James couldn't keep his eyes off of her, even after she had finished talking to Remus, he continued to stare at her, and to figure out was wrong.

Eventually he had to tear his eyes off of her when he realized that Sirius had asked him a question.

"I'm sorry, I must've zoned out, what were you asking?" James apologized while focusing his attention on his best friend, while still stealing glances at the quiet redhead in the corner.

"I asked how you we were supposed to get in trouble this year when you have to be all uppity until we graduate." Sirius whined for what seemed like that hundredth time that summer.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find a way, you two always do." Remus rolled his eyes at his fellow seventh years. "I mean, we are the marauders after all."

"Well, of course Moony, but with Prongs being head boy now, it's just going to be more difficult is all."

Instantly James' eyes found Lily's startled ones, looking up from her book.

"Ah, yes, oops?" Sirius grinned apologetically at a barely noticing James.

"You got head boy?" Lily asked quietly.

"Oh well, yes, I did… It came rather unexpectedly, and I completely understand if you're upset, because I assume you're head girl, and you probably wanted some-"

"It's fine. Congratulations." Lily interrupted James, and promptly went back to her book, leaving the four boys confused at her quick dismissal.

James didn't think he would be able to figure this out. Whatever was bothering Lily, she wasn't going to give up that easily, especially not to him, not the boy who she very distinctly had told she would rather date the giant squid then go out with him. James continued to rack his brain for some sort of reason for the rest of train ride, until it was time for them to disembark, and before he knew it, Lily had exited the compartment.

It was then James' mission to get Lily to open up to him this year, whatever it took.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I'm still so unsure of my writing, but it's nice to know people are reading it. I know this chapter is short, I'm still trying to figure out a good length for chapters, so it'll be a couple chapter before I become comfortable with a length. Anyways! let me know what you think... I eagerly await your responses...  
x and o's all around! Meagan


	3. Chapter Two

Lily found herself in a daze the next few days. She hadn't really noticed or cared about what was going on around her. Lily especially did not notice the penetrating stare of one James Potter.

Okay, she had noticed James, but really it was hard not to. James appeared everywhere Lily went, whether it is the great hall for meals, classrooms, or even the loo when she stopped off there. This is where Lily found him on her fourth day back to Hogwarts.

"Potter! Whatever this scheme is to get me to go out with you is, stop! It's becoming rather annoying, and really somewhat creepy." Lily spoke harshly to the figure slumped against the wall outside the third floor girl's bathroom.

"Evans! Fancy running into you here, I was just taking a stroll after dinner and happened to take a rest against this wall here." James said trying to appear nonchalant.

Lily rolled her eyes in response, and continued down the corridor to the staircase leading to the great hall.

Jogging to catch up to her, James continued as if he hadn't been ignored. "Evans, honestly, it was just pure coincidence, serendipitous even! I mean, it's been four days back and I haven't asked you out once yet!"

"Thank Merlin," Lily muttered to herself as they reached the door to the hall.

"So how 'bout it Evans? Go out with me?" James grinned cheekily to her as they came to a stop.

Outside of the hall a small group of students were standing chatting to each other before they made their way to their separate house tables. They all eagerly let their attention fall on the two head students, awaiting one of their infamous blow ups.

Lily glanced in their direction, knowing exactly what they were hoping for, but not wanting the attention on her any longer, Lily turned her attention to James.

"Potter, no, a thousand times no. Please let me be tonight, okay?" Feeling exhausted, Lily let that be the last word and continued on into the great hall, much to the disappointment of the bystanders.

James himself was disappointed; he was hoping to see that fiery passion erupt from this very different Lily.

Feeling dejected from his latest effort, he followed Lily's footsteps and went to go find his friends. Noticing them about halfway down, he quickened his pace and joined them as they finished their meals.

"Prongs! Where did you run off to? All we noticed was you checking the map under the table, and then taking off like a lightning bolt out of the hall." Sirius looked at James with brotherly concern.

"I had to ask Evans something is all. Any treacle tart left?" James looked around to steer the conversation away from his sudden departure earlier.

"So how did she say no this time? A hex or a myriad of insults that only she would be clever enough to come up with?" Remus mocked.

"She just said no and walked away. Have you guys noticed anything weird about Evans lately?" James was hoping one of them would be able to shed some light on the situation.

Peter just shrugged, usually the clueless one anyways. Remus and Sirius however exchanged a look before addressing James.

"I have noticed something a little off about Lily, yes, on that note actually, Alice and Marlene mentioned that she hasn't spoken to either of them since term started. They also said she hadn't been sleeping in the dorms at all either." Remus had lowered his voice so that the prying ears of the marauder fan club sitting a few seats down couldn't hear him.

"She's been more pale than usual as well, like she doesn't care what she looks like anymore." Sirius added.

They all turned their eyes to the redhead sitting at the very end of the Gryffindor table. They watched as she ate quickly and look furtively around her.

Almost as if she could sense someone looking at her, her eyes looked up and locked on James'. Lily's eyes widened, and without finishing her meal, she pushed away from the table and walked quickly out of the hall.

"I have to know what's wrong, I have to help her." James jolted from his seat and ran after Lily.

James finally caught up to her as she was climbing the last staircase to the Gryffindor common room.

"Evans! Mother of Merlin you walk fast! I could hardly keep up with you!" James gasped for breath as he fell in step beside her.

"Did you happen to think that I meant to walk fast away from you?" Lily had stopped and glared at him through bagged eyes.

"Of course not, I'm amazing." James grinned at her. "Evans, what's wrong? You've been different since we started the term, and frankly my dear, I'm worried." James' tone though light, conveyed the concern he was expressing.

"Nothing James, just let it be." Lily said dismissively.

"Damn it, Evans, you can't keep hiding from everyone." James practically growled it at her.

"I'm not hiding James, I just want to be alone right now." Lily's fierce expression met James' frustrated face.

"That sounds like hiding to me Evans," James shook his head. "You never let anyone in Evans; you haven't spoken to your best friends since we got back."

James started to turn away, resigned to the fact that this was hopeless, he stopped though, when he heard a quiet voice behind him.

"It's Lily."

Confused at the statement and the quietness of her tone, James turned around slowly and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"My name is Lily, not Evans, you've never called me Lily, my rightful name, but you expect me to open up to you." Lily's eyes portrayed sadness and slight exasperation.

"I didn't realize… I apologize Lily, I should've known." James faltered with words, not quiet knowing what to say.

Their conversation got cut off at that point, when the rest of marauders appeared at the top of the stairs, stopping short when they realized that they had clearly interrupted something.

"I- I'm going to go… to bed or something." Lily let her eyes drop from James' and she hurried away back down the stairs.

James stood staring at the spot that she had left from, before someone behind him cleared their throat.

"Is everything okay?" Remus asked the question slowly.

James turned to face his friends. "I have absolutely no idea."

-

A/N: Hello my lovely readers! To prove how pathetic I am, when I got my two reviews, and five followers, I actually cried. So much in fact, that my boyfriend was starting to get concerned. Haha. It made it worse when I realized that were GOOD reviews! so much love.

I've decided to update once a week, either fridays or saturdays, unless I get trigger happy and update before that. With me working retail, it's really going to depend on how tired I am.

It is going to get longer, the next two chapters that I have written out are longer than this. So don't fret!

So thanks a million again! love you all!


	4. Chapter Three

A/N: Okay, I lied before, this one isn't too long either, but the next one I SWEAR is! enjoy!

Chapter Three

Lily ran from the Gryffindor tower until she reached the front entrance. Looking over her shoulder for anyone coming, she soundlessly opened the grand doors and made her way outside.

Once she was safely outside she took the path that led her down the hill to the gamekeeper, Hagrid's hut. Looking over her shoulder one last time, she knocked quickly.

Opening the door, Hagrid looked down at the petite redhead standing in front of him. With a giant size sigh, Hagrid stepped aside and motioned for her to enter.

"Lily, how much longer are yah gunna' be hiding here? I don't mind, but I think your friends must miss yah." Hagrid spoke as he prepared two mugs of hot tea.

She settled on the couch and let Fang, Hagrid's boar hound jump up beside her and laid his head on her lap, drooling as he did.

"I don't know Hagrid, I just don't want any more pity, and I've had enough of that over the summer." Lily accepted her mug from Hagrid and watched as he sat in the easy chair across from the couch.

"How do you know that's what they'll do, Lily? Maybe you're not giving them enough credit." Hagrid tried to reason with her.

Lily knew he had the right intentions, but he knew exactly how they would react. Alice would be constantly fretting over her, never letting her get a moments peace, all with a permanent look of worry on her face. Marlene on the other hand would feel so awkward around her, and not know what to say, most likely ending up with her just staring at Lily. Lily wasn't sure what was worse to be honest.

With a shake of his head, Hagrid stood up from his chair and stretched. "Well Lily, if I can't convince yah, then feel free to sleep on that lumpy ol' couch as long as you feel yah need ta." With a wink towards Lily, Hagrid called for Fang and they went into the small bedroom off the kitchen.

Lily sighed for what felt like the millionth time and reached into her pocket for her magically shrunk trunk. Pulling out her wand she made the trunk larger and grabbed her pyjamas from inside.

After she changed, she clicked her tongue to the top of her mouth, and called out for Goose. Goose peeked his head out from under a cabinet and realizing the coast was clear of Fang, ran over to Lily and curled into her lap.

Stroking Goose, Lily reached into her rucksack and pulled out the reading she needed to do for Transfiguration.

She knew she had to face her friends eventually, but for now Lily needed the peace and quiet of Hagrid's hut to keep her mind off of everything.

Unfortunately nothing seemed to take her mind off her earlier encounter with James Potter.

James sat in his bed that night, poring over a piece of parchment by wand light.

After Lily had ran away from them, James had been sorely tempted to chase after her. What seemed like the worst internal struggle he had gone through, James finally conceded and followed his friends into the Gryffindor common room.

Now that it was close to midnight, James was curious if Lily did in fact go to bed as she said she was going to. Searching through the labyrinth of the Marauder's map, James concluded that she had lied. It took him another few minutes of looking, but he eventually found her dot in the confines of Hagrid's hut.

James stared at the dot for a few contemplative minutes, trying to decide whether it was the best idea to grab his invisibility cloak and search the hut, before he tapped the map with his wand. He muttered the words "Mischief managed" to clear the map, and folded it neatly before placing it in his top drawer of his bedside table.

James wasn't sure how long he had laid there trying to make sense of everything that had happened that day, but before he knew it, Remus was shaking his shoulder to wake him up.

"Morning, Mate, figured you'd want to get some breakfast in before class started." Remus smiled at James before leaving the dormitory himself.

Groaning as he stretched out tense muscles, James flung his long legs over the side of his bed and get ready for his day.

Before he drifted off to sleep last night, James had settled on a course of action with dealing with Lily. He was going to give her the space that she wanted, but he was going to unwavering polite, and constantly on the lookout out for potentially upsetting things for her.

With this game plan in mind, he dressed quickly and went down to breakfast. When he reached the great hall and looked around, he noticed Sirius, Peter and Remus sitting in their usual spot, Alice and Marlene sat a few seats away from them, their brown and blonde hair cascading together as they whispered with their heads close together. Finally he looked for Lily, but as he suspected, he did not find her.

James joined his friends, and jumped in occasionally with some comments to their conversation about Puddlemere United's chance at the cup this upcoming season, but was too distracted keeping an eye out for Lily.

Finally it was almost time for their first class of the day to start; Charms. Knowing this was Lily's favorite class; James gathered some toast in a napkin and hurried out of the great hall, ignoring his friends' shouts behind him.

Once he reached the hallway outside of their charms classroom, he slowed his pace and walked quietly into the room, adjusting the strap on his bag as he went.

Lily was seated at the back of the classroom, reading over what looked like her assignment they were to hand in today. James approached her desk, and when she looked up, he placed the wrapped toast in front of her.

"I noticed you weren't at breakfast this morning, and I thought you might be hungry, so uh, here's some toast." James said lamely, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, well, thank you, I am actually quite hungry. I woke up a little later than expected and wasn't able to make it down to breakfast." Lily responded quietly, and James was happy that she didn't just throw the food away.

When she realized they didn't really have much more to say, Lily suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Well, I'll just go ov-"

"Would you like to-"

They had both spoken at the same time, and subsequently became very red in the face. James awkwardly gestured for her to continue.

"I was going to offer you the seat beside me if you'd like." Lily flushed an even darker red.

James looked at the slowly filling classroom, and over to where Sirius was undoubtedly saving him a seat, then back at Lily.

"I would like that, thank you." James walked behind the desk and sat beside Lily.

When James was fully sitting down, he looked around the classroom more closely this time, his friends were staring at him in surprise, but also with smiles on their faces, Alice and Marlene were looking at Lily with hurt and longing, and his least favorite person, Severus Snape was glaring openly at James with such loathing.

Rolling his eyes at Snape's behaviour, James reached into his bag and pulled out his own charms homework.

"Thank you Lily."

"You're welcome, James."

They did not speak for the rest of the class.

A/N: Hello beautiful people! How was everyone's week!? Like I said at the top there, this isn't as long as I had originally intended, but, I usually try to be a full written chapter done before I post a new one, and It's been a full week, and I'm still not done the next chapter.

Hope you enjoyed, and thank you thank you THANK YOU for continuing to read!


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

-Lily-

Lily was well into her second week of classes for her seventh year, and James continued to sit with her during every class. They would say hello, and goodbye, but otherwise did not mutter a word.

Although Lily insisted on still sleeping on Hagrid's lumpy couch, much to the worry of the gamekeeper, she was more than accepting of the company of someone. It wasn't much, just two people sitting side by side, not saying a word, but it was what she needed.

It was exactly one week after they started their routine, that James finally broke the silence.

"Lily, do you like quidditch?" He seemed nervous, unsure of himself, so odd for James to be.

"I used to be a fan, but I don't see many, in fact none, outside of Hogwarts." She responded, looking over at him, eyebrow raised questioningly.

"I was wondering if you'd come to and watch the tryouts tomorrow morning, maybe give me some feedback, then I was hoping that we could work on our heads stuff afterwards." James said this so quietly that Lily had to lean a little closer to hear him.

"Oh, are your friends not going?" Lily was confused with the request.

James immediately looked like he regretted asking.

"No, they are, it's just nice to have an unbiased onlooker, but of course, you're probably too busy. I understand." James' face turned a bright red, and he stared down at the parchment in front of him.

Lily stayed quiet for a few seconds, unsure of her words. Eventually she plucked up her nerve and responded.

"That sounds fine James. What time do the tryouts start?"

Lily could hear an audible crack from James' neck when he looked up at her so quickly with wide surprised eyes.

"Oh, uh, nine…" James trailed off.

Lily gave what almost passed off as a smile, definitely the closest to an actual smile since the summer.

James, noticing Lily's semblance of a smile, shook off his earlier shock and smiled broadly in return.

"Great! Wonderful, fantastic really." James continued to smile at Lily, and she was starting to second guess her agreement.

"Yes, I guess," Lily shrugged. "I'm just going to finish these notes," she gestured with her quill to the sheet in front of her.

With a short nod in her direction, James continued to write out his own notes.

The next day came very quickly for Lily, who had become very nervous about spending time outside of Hagrid's hut or the secluded back corner of the Library.

Lily had taken longer than she thought she should have picking out her clothes, she had ended up in a plain purple t-shirt and jeans, really nothing to think about, which slightly annoyed her, Lily didn't need to worry about what she looked like.

Hagrid's hut was only a short walk to the quidditch pitch, thankfully allowing her to be only a few minutes late. When she arrived to the pitch and had climbed up on one of the raised stands, James was mid speech.

"I am looking for a seeker today, that's the only open position, so if you're here for any other position; feel free to go ahead inside. First years and other house members should also be leaving. You know the rules." With this statement, about six or seven students among the fifteen or so that were there left the pitch grumbling.

James continued to instruct the remaining students with how he planned to execute this tryout. Occasionally he gestured to one of the established team members, which included Sirius and her good friend; although not recently, Marlene.

Sirius and a very tall, built fifth year named Chester were the Gryffindor beaters; Marlene played keeper, and James and two sixth year twin girls, Madison and Melanie played chasers. The Gryffindor team was on a four year winning streak; since James took over as captain.

James finished setting up trials and stepped away from the crowd. Lily saw him shade his eyes and search the stands. When he came upon the stand she was in, they locked eyes. James' face broke out in a huge smile, and he waved enthusiastically.

Sirius and Marlene had been in deep conversation when they noticed James' wave. They both turned to look at who James was waving at, upon seeing it was Lily, Sirius grinned slyly, and clapped James on the back before walking away, winking at Lily as he went. Marlene glared at Lily until James noticed and yelled at her to get into formation.

Waving once more, James continued with his tryouts. As they started up, Lily heard footsteps coming from behind her. Remus and Peter quietly sat beside her.

"Good morning, Lily," Remus smiled at Lily.

"Good morning Remus, Peter." She nodded at each boy respectively.

"When James said you'd be watching, we didn't believe him in the slightest." Remus was sly, but Lily knew he was trying to get information out of her.

"James asked if I could help weigh in, and as I'm all caught up on homework, I thought it would be good to get a change of scenery. We're also meeting up afterwards for head work." Lily was polite, but her tone suggested that Remus was to not inquire further about her coming today.

Remus got the hint and continued to talk to Peter about the tryouts.

An hour and half later, James was rounding everyone back down to the centre of the field.

"Alright everyone thanks for coming out today, and I'll be sure to post by tomorrow evening." James dismissed everyone. He looked up at Lily's spot again and held up five fingers indicating he would be five minutes before meeting her.

Saying goodbye to Remus and Peter, Lily walked down the stairs and across the field to just outside the change rooms. Upon arriving, Lily hadn't noticed too much around her, but once she was standing there, she felt a hard poke to her shoulder. Turning around brought Lily face to face with an angry Marlene.

"Oi! Really nice of you to make it out to watch James today, after you've been ditching your friends for two weeks." Marlene's nostrils flared with anger. "Alice has been worried sick about you, wondering if we'd done something."

"Marlene… I'm sorry I've just been dealing with some stuff, and I didn't know how to face you guys." Lily almost pleaded with Marlene.

"We're your best friends Lily! We would do anything for you if you just let us!" Marlene threw her hands up in frustration.

"I just… need to figure this out myself…" as Lily trailed off she felt a presence walk up behind her.

-James-

James was just finished getting freshened up, when he left the change rooms to meet Lily. What he was not expecting to see was Marlene red in the face and furious and Lily close to tears.

"Is everything okay here?" James asked with some trepidation.

"Oh just dandy cap', now that you're here, right Lily?" Marlene didn't take her eyes off of Lily.

"Okay McKinnon, give it a rest." James tried to say it nicely, but with enough force to let her know he meant it.

"You know what? Fine, be miserable Lily, we tried to give you your space out of respect, but I think we'll just leave you alone permanently." With that, Marlene turned on her heels and stormed off towards the castle.

James hurried so he was in Marlene's previous spot facing Lily.

"Lily, are you okay? What just happened?" James' frantic eyes searched Lily's impassive face.

"Nothing James, do you mind if we just move on from this and have that meeting?" Lily's voice was flat.

James took one more long searching look at her face, before her pleading eyes made him agree, and they started their walk back to the castle.

When they reached the door, James rushed a little so he could be the one to open it. Opening it wide, James went into a low bow and gestured for her to continue.

"After you m'lady," James grinned.

"You're a right prat you know," James could just see her lips turn up in the corner.

"Of course, but I'm the most lovable that way." James joked.

Lily simply rolled her eyes in response. "Where would you like to have this meeting?" She asked.

"I actually have a room in mind, just follow me." With that, James bounded up the stairs and didn't slow down until he reached the seventh floor.

"James! Slow down, my legs are not as long as yours are!" Lily was out of breath when she caught up a few minutes later.

James being the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team had to be in top shape, so he simply gave a sympathetic smile to Lily.

When Lily had reached James' side, he proceeded to walk to the middle of the corridor. James gestured to Lily to stay where she was standing and started to walk back and forth in front of the blank wall.

Lily was eyeing him skeptically until her face changed into one of shock and amazement when a door appeared out of thin air.

"James, where are we?" Lily whispered the question, not taking her eyes off the door.

"This, sweet Lily, is the room of the Requirement. It becomes everything you need at that moment, and disappears when you leave. For instance, right now it is a cozy but professional space where we can discuss head business." James explained.

Lily continued to look amazed and James put his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the door. As James opened it to reveal the room inside, Lily gave a great gasp and brought her hand to her mouth.

"James, this is absolutely amazing." Lily finally breathed out.

Tearing his eyes off Lily, James looked around at the room he had been picturing in his mind. It was on the smaller side, but still managed to be big and inviting. A giant fireplace was in the corner, with two love seats facing it, a small table in front of them. In the opposite corner of the room was the food and drinks that James had brought up earlier, sitting on a rolling tray.

"We should get started." Lily brought James out of his reverie.

"Of course," James nodded, and let Lily take the first pic of the sofas.

Seemingly out of nowhere Lily brought a bag to her lap and started unloading parchment. James hadn't thought she had brought anything with her, but shook it off as him being distracted.

It was a couple hours later, when in a moment of silence, James said something that had plaguing him all day.

"Lily, I know you're staying at Hagrid's." James said it quietly.

Lily's face scrunched together, registering her discomfort at the statement.

"Please don't tell anyone." She still hadn't looked at him.

"If you don't want me to, I won't," James assured. "But Lily, someone other than me is going to find out eventually."

"I know, I'll eventually go back to the dorms, but I just can't yet, especially after today with Marlene." Lily looked as if she could be close to tears.

James was quiet for a moment, and reaching across, he gently laid his hand atop her quivering one.

"James, how did you get in here again?" Lily asked, almost at a whisper.

"Just walk past the wall three times, concentrating hard on what you need the room to be." Pulling back his hand, James answered Lily's question.

Lily nodded and started to put away her things, packing them in her bag slowly.

"Well, I think we've covered everything we needed to for this month, maybe we can make this a regular place for our heads meetings," Lily changed the subject.

"Oh and James? I think you should pick Zack, he was fast and extremely agile."

James agreed and he watched as Lily started towards the door. As she was leaving through the door, she dropped something out of her pocket.

"Wait Lily! You dropp-" She was too quick for James to catch up to once he realized she had dropped something.

Picking up the object, he inspected what appeared to be a very tiny trunk. James placed the box into his robe pocket and gathered his items in his bag, he would have to give it back to her tomorrow.

A/N: Hello Everyone! I'm sorry I'm a tad late updating! I hope it's everything you hoped for and more! I've been pretty busy at work, so when I get home, I'm too exhausted to do anything. I've been forcing myself to wrap Christmas presents, and I normally enjoy that! So, morale of the story? Don't work retail, and you'll be fine!

If anyone has any well written Ginny/Harry stories, or even James/Lily stories that you know of, please let me know!

Thanks in advance to anyone who reviews!

-Meagan


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

-James-

Later on in the night after his meeting with Lily, James sat in his dorm room, ignoring his friends' loud voices as they acted out a play the Puddlemere United's team did last match. He had the small trunk in his hands, inspecting every small aspect of it, but still had no idea what Lily could possibly be doing with such a miniature trunk.

"Prongs, what are you looking at?" Remus had stepped away from the other two, and sat on the end of James' four poster bed.

"I'm not entirely sure to be honest; it fell out of Lily's pocket earlier." James didn't take his eyes off of the trunk when he answered Remus.

"Mate, if that's Evans', you probably should return and not ask questions. I would hate to be on the receiving end of that wrath." Sirius chuckled, throwing his quaffle in James' direction.

Catching the quaffle required James to drop the trunk. Before James could react, Remus reached out and grabbed it, and hurried to the other side of the room to where Sirius and Peter were.

"This looks like a miniature Hogwarts trunk, but why would Lily have this?" Remus pondered.

"Moony, may I have that back please?" James gritted his teeth, and tried pushing past Sirius to reach Remus.

"You've had all night to stare at it Prongs, it's our turn now." Remus grinned at James.

James managed to push Sirius out of the way, but not before Remus tossed the trunk to Peter's open hands.

"Wormtail, I swear if you do not give that to me, I will cut off your supply of Honeyduke's chocolate." James growled at Peter from behind Remus, his new blockade.

Seeing James' angry face, Peter gave a quick squeak and tossed it to Sirius, who rolled his eyes at Peter's wimpy attitude.

"Maybe she keeps all of her secrets in here, did you try opening it?" With this, Sirius tried prying open the box.

James rolled his eyes, and easily made it past Remus, snatching the trunk out of Sirius' hands.

"I've tried everything, obviously, but I can't figure it out at all! I'm bloody frustrated." James groaned.

"Maybe you could just give it back and ask her?" Peter spoke quietly from the corner of the room, still worried that James will ruin his sweets supply.

"It's Prongs and Evans, Wormtail, obviously he's not going to do that." Sirius rolled his eyes at Peter.

"James, do you mind if I look at it again? I may have an idea." Remus looked thoughtful as he walked over to James and Sirius.

Hesitantly, James handed it back over to Remus, and watched as Remus pulled out his wand.

They all held their breath, as Remus put the box on the ground and pointed his wand at the object, muttering a few words under his breath. They collectively gasped as the trunk grew into a full sized one before their eyes.

James moved closer to the trunk, running his fingers along the top and over a small engraving in the top right hand corner.

"Property of Lily Evans," James read out. "Guys, I think this is Lily's school trunk."

"Why would Evans be carrying around her trunk in robes?" Sirius asked very confused.

Quickly realizing what was going on, James knew he had to get them off this topic.

"Well, we will probably never know, so Remus, if you wouldn't mind, can you shrink this down to the size she had it?"

"Wait a minute Prongs, are you telling me you have absolutely no desire to know what's inside of this trunk? No need to know why Lilyflower has it so teeny tiny?" Sirius goaded James.

"Nope, none at all." James shrugged.

"I think perhaps, that James already knows why it's this small," Remus looked pointedly at James.

"It's not my business to tell. Remus, guys, just let this one go for now." James pleaded.

Remus gave a searching look at James' face and finally nodded. He pulled out his wand, and said the incantation to shrink the trunk down to its previous tiny size.

Scooping the trunk up in his hands, James quickly retreated out of the dorm and down into the common room, searching for Lily.

Inspiration hit him when his eyes fell on two figures sitting on the plush carpet beside the large fireplace, chatting. James made his way over.

"Alice, Marlene, nice to run into you tonight." The girls looked up startled at the sudden addition to their chat. Upon seeing it was James, Marlene rolled her eyes and stood up.

"I'm going to head up to the dorm Alice," With a small wave at her retreating back, Alice turned to James with a disapproving look.

"I'm not sure what you've done James, but Marlene hasn't been in a good mood since tryouts this morning."

"Oh Alice, what do I ever do to Marlene? She's always upset with me about something, but she'll get over it. She always does." James replied.

"Oh James," Alice chuckled. "You're too right, I don't know what it is with my best friends, but they just can't seem to get along with you for too long. Well, I guess that's not true anymore with Lily is it…"

"Listen Alice, Lily's actually the reason I'm here right now, I need a favour…."

-Lily-

Lily was in a panic. Sheer panic. She has looked everywhere in the castle for her blasted trunk, and she was getting bloody frustrated not being able to find it. She had even attempted to go back to the Room of Requirement, all she got when she triggered the room, was a glorified junk closet, that seemed to go back for miles.

Lily was now pacing the front entrance trying to come up with another place she could've possibly left it. Not being able to think of anywhere, and a failed attempt at summoning it to her, she resolved that she is now on without any of her possessions, Lily took a seat on the bottom step of the grand staircase.

She held her head in her hands, and let out a long sigh. A hand fell on her shoulder, causing Lily to jump and shriek out of fright.

"Oh Lily, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. I've been looking for you for an hour now." Alice's kind face was contorted with concern.

"It's okay Alice; I've just had a very long day." Lily explained.

"Probably looking for this right?" Alice held out Lily's missing shrunken trunk.

"Alice! How did you know? I've spent the last three hours looking for this thing!" Lily was so happy she flung her arms around Alice's neck, allowing Alice to let out a small chuckle.

When Lily finally let go, Alice's face was suddenly very serious.

"Lily, why did James have your school trunk? He said he found after your meeting, but why wasn't it wherever you're sleeping?" Alice's tone was borderline scolding, but Alice has never been known to be the scolding type, so Lily knew she was just concerned.

When Lily stayed quiet and didn't respond, Alice let out a sigh and dropped her head so it was lying on Lily's shoulder.

"I think it's time you came back to the dorm Lily, you don't have to tell us what's been happening, but you should come back." Alice spoke quietly.

After about thirty seconds of silence, Lily spoke. "I think you're right Alice, I've been a bit of a brat, not trusting my friends."

Alice's head popped up in excitement, "Are you sure? I mean, obviously I want you to come back, but I don't want to pressure you."

"No Alice, I'm sure. I'm so sure in fact, that I will tell you both what's happened, I think it's time someone other than Dumbledore knows what happened." Lily averted her eyes, not wanting to cry in front of Alice.

Alice abruptly stood up and grabbed Lily's arm. "Come on then! I'm so excited for Marlene to see you come back! We've both been so concerned."

Lily was suddenly filled with dread. She hadn't considered Marlene's reaction in all of this.

"Maybe I should let you tell her before I go in, just to make sure she really is okay with this." Lily's voice was hesitant, but Alice appeared to only partially hear here, owing to the fact that she was practically dragging Lily up the stairs.

"Oh don't worry about her, she such an over reactor." Glancing back at Lily, Alice continued on, "Of course, if it would make you more comfortable I will of course clear it with her."

When they reached the Fat Lady, Lily stopped short. She hadn't been here since the start of the semester to grab her trunk, she had no idea what the password could be.

"Virum." Alice gave the password to the Fat Lady, and continued dragging Lily into the common room.

"Give me one second, and I'll let you know when it's safe to come up." Alice spoke quickly and proceeded to bound up the girls' staircase.

Looking around awkwardly, Lily's eyes fell on a tall figure leaning against the wall directly in front of her, on the opposite side of the room. James gave Lily a small smile and waved.

Lily made her way over to him, but got stopped halfway due to Alice shouting her name. She smiled at James and mouthed out "thank you" before following the shout.

Lily didn't know what could've possibly gotten into James, but she was pleasantly surprised, and overall very glad. Maybe they could be friends after all.

A/N: I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! Did everyone get what they asked for? I asked for a shiny new engagment ring, but alas, another holiday gone by with no ring! He'll learn eventually ;)

I tried to add some Latin in there with the password, but I'm entirely relying on google translate, so if Virum does not actually mean bravery, can someone let me know?

Not a lot of James/Lily interaction, but how cute is he to try and get her group back together? Hopefully I've made it long enough for you wonderful readers.

I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to update next, My family is going on a cruise to the Bahamas (It's okay, I know you're jealous.) So I don't know if I'll have to time to write a chapter before we leave on the 3rd. If I do not, then I wish everyone a great new year!

-Meagan


	7. Chapter Six

A/N: Happy New Year everyone! Enjoy!

Chapter Six

-Lily-

It was two weeks after she had decided to regain her courage and sleep in the dorms again. Lily was still visiting Hagrid almost every day, and he was still happy to see her. When she went back the day after to collect Goose from the hut, Hagrid met her at the door with a broad smile and the most suffocating hug she had ever gotten.

Now, as she lay on her back out on the grounds, trying to breathe in the last warm air of autumn, Lily reflected on her night with her friends.

_Lily hadn't expected the response that she received. When she had finished telling the tale, there were a few unbearably long minutes of silence, before she was knocked back onto her bed with Alice's arms around her torso. _

_"Oh Lily, I couldn't ever imagine going through something like that, seeing that, living with it. No wonder you stayed so reclusive, I think I would have to." Alice was wiping tears away from her eyes._

_"I haven't quite come to terms with it yet, but I know that I have to move on eventually, it was just plain silly of me to avoid you two. I apologize so much, more than you know." Lily hung her head in a mixture of shame and sadness._

_"Damn right you were silly." Marlene spoke up for the first time since Lily had entered the room and started telling the story._

_Alice and Lily whipped their heads in Marlene's direction, Alice's face one of shock, and Lily's face one of disappointment in herself. _

_"Marlene! You can't just say that! Of course, Lily we forgive you, it was a terrible thing to have gone through, and Marlene understands that." Alice's teeth gritted through her last few words._

_"No, Alice its fine, she can say and feel what she likes." Lily's voice was quiet, but her eyes did not waver off of Marlene's._

_"You shouldn't have shut us out. It was silly, as you said, and it was just plain stupid. Obviously Petunia is not helping you, so would it not make sense for us to be the ones who are there for you? We have always been there for each other, and this is no different. It shouldn't have taken you a month to come to us, to confide in us, to even __**talk**__ to us. You're the solid in this group of friends Evans, and we were lost without you. Best friends for six years, and you couldn't trust us." Marlene's voice rose with every word she spoke, but by the end she was speaking in a whisper. _

_"Marlene, I'm so-" Lily started but was cut off by Marlene again._

_"No, Lily, I'm not done talking." Marlene spoke sharply. "We were upset, understandably with not knowing what was happening with you, but at the same time, we spent countless hours worrying about you. I think I speak on behalf of both Alice and myself, when I say that although we were upset with you, we were way more worried about you, and now happy that you're back." _

_Throughout her speech, Marlene never broke eye contact with Lily. With her final word out, Lily gave her a short nod, and finally broke her gaze._

_Marlene and Lily both jumped a little when a loud cry came out of Alice suddenly. _

_"Oh, you two! You're both so stubborn."_

Lily smiled to herself thinking of Alice's reaction to her and Marlene's reunion. Always the sentimental one in the group, Alice never failed to see the good in people. Marlene on the other hand, surprised her. She always knew that Marlene was stronger than Alice in her personality, but had never been so outspoken and angry. Lily had learned since from Alice that this was a recent and more common thing to expect from Marlene. It was hardly surprising with the war going on.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to will herself into going back into the castle before she ended up here all night and worrying her friends again. Lily had finally taken her last deep breath in of the warm air and had finally convinced herself to go back inside when James suddenly appeared on the grass beside her.

"Lily, how are you?" He smiled in her direction.

"I'm well, thank you James, yourself?"

"The same, thank you."

Lily hadn't really talked to James since that night. As her and her friends were on talking terms again, she had begun sitting with them in class again, James had taken the seat beside Sirius.

It's not like she had intentionally avoided him, she just had so much to catch up on with her friends, mixed in with her homework…

Who was she kidding? Of course she had avoided him. Lily didn't know what to say to him, knowing that James was responsible for her and friends talking. She had no idea what to feel, what to think, she has never felt more confused about her feelings.

"I'm glad to see that you three are back together again." James played with some blades of grass in front of him.

"I heard that you're responsible for that." Lily gave a small smirk in his direction.

"Yes, I guess I am. Or rather, you are, for being so forgetful of your possessions." James teased.

Lily gave a small chuckle in response, and let it hang there.

"Thank you James, I had no idea how much I missed them, until it was almost too late." Lily spoke quietly, but she knew James could hear her.

"It was never too late Lily, not with friends as good as yours. The Marauders have gone through something like that before, when your friendship is strong, it makes it through anything." James spoke earnestly and with meaning, and Lily did not continue the subject, as far as she was concerned, they've covered everything they needed to.

"Lily, can I ask you something?" James hesitated slightly with his words.

Lily suddenly got a strange feeling spread throughout her body.

-James-

James was planning on asking her to Hogsmeade. Not on a date, but with his friends, along with hers if they would like to join. He knew that he couldn't let whatever they had had, just disintegrate into nothing.

"Of course." Lily's voice was weird.

"I was wondering what you were doing for Hogsmeade?" Lily opened her mouth to answer with a stricken and scared look on her face. James continued before she could say no.

"I mean, not as us going together, alone, as like, a date or anything, but with our friends, maybe we could make it a group date, outing! I meant a ground outing." He spoke fast and stumbled over his words. James looked at Lily with a scared look of his own, only to find her with an amused expression.

"Well, I'm sure Alice has a date with Frank, as he promised to meet her on Hogsmeade weekends this year, but I'm sure Marlene and I could be persuaded to join the infamous Marauders on their rampage through the village." Lily teased.

"Rampage? Lily you make us to be some kind of animals." He smiled to himself at the inside joke with his friends.

"Animals? No of course not. Miscreants are more like it." Lily laughed freely. James did not know what had gotten into her, but he was overtly pleased to see her as happy as she was at this moment.

"You're probably right, but not this time, if Miss Evans, and Miss McKinnon are with us, then we will of course be on our best behaviour." He puffed out his chest and laid his right hand over his heart and his left upright, as if making a vow.

Lily rolled her eyes when she stopped laughing, but she still had a smile on her face.

"This Hogsmeade trip, is it this weekend?"

"No, not for another couple weeks, Dumbledore just let me know, the notices are going up in a couple days." James answered.

"Have I missed a meeting with Professor Dumbledore?" Lily had a frantic look on her face.

"Oh no, I happened to pass him in the halls on the way to lunch, and he happened to mention it." James was lying of course. Dumbledore asked to meet him today to discuss his future in the Order of the Phoenix after graduating. He was not to talk about to anyone, not even to Sirius.

"Oh good, I was worried my absent mindedness had made me miss an important meeting." Lily visibly relaxed.

"Well, I am off to meet the boys for lunch, just wanted to find you first. Care to join me in walking to the castle?" James jumped to his feet and extended a hand to help Lily up if she wanted.

Accepting his hand, Lily stood up and brushed some grass off her back before walking in step with him.

Just as they reached the door into the castle, James grabbed Lily's arm and stopped her.

"Lily, I need you to know, that whatever happened in the past with the two of us, I've grown up, I'm not that annoying kid anymore, I'm not going to ask you out every second, and I'm taking my head duties seriously. As important as that all is, the most important I can make is, that I am here for you. I know you have your friends, and your parents, but I am here, I'm willing to listen, and will always your backup and shoulder to cry on if you need it." His voice was intense and his eyes burned with fire.

Lily stood there silent for a few seconds before she finally answered.

"As I am for you James."

A/N: Some Lily/James closeness in this chapter! I hope the rants from both James and Marlene made sense. This was meant to more a chapter showing Lily that she can trust again, can love again. I hope that came across.

I had someone private message me about Lily's cat's name. I named the cat Goose, because of my cat. I named my cat Molly after Molly Weasley, so obviously I couldn't use the name Molly in the story, so I used a variation of Molly's nickname, which is Mollygoose. Hope that clears things up.

I love that people are still reading this, even though I haven't revealed what happened to Lily's parents yet. I hope this story ends up being a 15-16 chapter story, and I plan on revealing closer to the end, maybe around chapter 11-12. So please stick around!

Also, one major shoutout to one consistent follower/reviewer. You know who you are! This wonderful human being has reviewed most of my chapters, and continously makes me smile with their reviews. Thank you, thank you, thank you!


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